In the past, hair curling systems have been developed that apply steam to hair curlers as an aid to curling. One such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,493,722 (Popeil) and involves soaking an entire set of curlers in a steam chest. A more advanced system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,554 (Caruso) and involves injecting a jet of steam into a porous hollow curler. Such steam hair curling systems utilize a steam generating unit, typically referred to as a "steamer." Although such steamers are designed primarily for the generation of steam for hair curlers, attempts have been made to adapt them for use as a facial Steamer, as disclosed in the aforementioned Popeil patent.
According to Popeil, a shield is placed within the steam chest to guide the steam vertically upward for steaming the face. Unfortunately, this approach suffers from several drawbacks. First, whereas the user often desires to steam both the hands and the face, Popeil only allows steaming of only one body part at a time. Second, the shield is not suitable for converting a more advanced curler system steamer, such as that disclosed in the aforementioned patent to Caruso, to body steaming. This is so because the Popeil shield merely directs the steam flow upward, it neither diffuses nor cools the steam. This is a serious drawback since advanced steamers generate steam in a relatively high velocity jet that cannot be safely discharged directly into the user's face.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an attachment for a hair curler steamer that was capable of providing steam for steam treating the user's face and/or hands, and for providing a means for securely locking the attachment onto the steamer.